How to apostille your Social Security letter for Panama
Panama needs official proof that your pension is paid for life. For US Social Security, that proof is your Benefit Verification Letter, apostilled by the US Department of State.
The State Department only apostilles a federal document that carries an original signature and the seal of the issuing agency, so a letter printed from your online account is not enough on its own.
Get your Benefit Verification Letter
Social Security calls it a Benefit Verification Letter, or proof of income letter. You can download it from your my Social Security account, or request it by phone or mail; by mail it arrives within 10 business days at the address Social Security has on file.
Have it certified by Social Security
For the apostille you need a version signed by a Social Security official with the agency seal. Social Security officials are authorized to certify true copies of their records under the agency seal. Ask for a certified letter for use abroad; we tell you the current way to request it and confirm any fee before you pay.
Do not notarize it
The State Department warns that a federal document that has been notarized is no longer valid for its apostille. Send the certified letter exactly as Social Security issued it.
Get the federal apostille
Send Form DS-4194, naming Panama as the country of use, with the certified letter and US$20 per document to the Office of Authentications. By mail it takes up to five weeks; at the walk-in counter in Washington, D.C., up to seven business days.
Translate it in Panama
Once apostilled, the letter is translated into Spanish in Panama by an authorized public translator. We arrange it with the rest of your file.
If you already live outside the United States
The US Embassy in Panama does not have a Social Security office. Its Federal Benefits Unit only handles first Social Security numbers for people over 12, by appointment. Beneficiaries in Panama are served by the Social Security office in San José, Costa Rica, whose staff visit Panama a few times a year. Plan ahead: this is the step that takes longest for people who no longer have a US address.
[email protected] · +506 2519-2228
What about disability benefits (SSDI)?
Social Security says disability benefits automatically change to retirement benefits when you reach full retirement age. Before that, they are reviewed periodically. Whether Panama’s Immigration accepts SSDI as a lifetime pension is decided case by case, so we confirm it with Immigration before you pay any legal fees.
Two things are not published by Social Security: the exact procedure to order a certified letter from abroad, and whether a fee applies to it. We check both for your case before you start.
Send us your Benefit Verification Letter. We check its wording before you certify and apostille it, so you only do it once.
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